The most compelling villains in open-world RPGs

Key recommendations

  • Narrative is crucial in open-world games of various genres, and villains play an important role in it.
  • Many games feature compelling villains that players must eventually face, but some games do it better than others.
  • Characters such as Dung Eater, Gaunter O'Dimm and Caesar stand out for their evil yet charismatic portrayals.



Open-world titles have become an incredibly popular genre over the past decade or so, breaking out of their own niche titles to find variations in all other game worlds. Serious tactical shooters, epic fantasy titles, survival horror, and even racing games have found an open-world counterpart. Regardless of what kind of framework an open-world title would fit into, narrative is an essential component of what makes many of these games work.

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And what good is a story without a villain? In some games, players can take on the role of being the villain, but in most players will be facing a powerful and evil antagonist in the story. These open world RPGs have some incredibly compelling villains that the player can try to defeat.



7 Dung Eater – Elden Ring

Evil to his core and proud of it

ISSUED
February 25, 2022

OpenCritic rating
Strong

There are many characters in Elden Ring who might hold the title of worst villain in the series. Is Marika bad? Is the Great Will evil? But those people who want to set fire to existence, that SOUNDS river. But all of these characters have some sort of justification for their actions and in the obfuscated storytelling style of Elden Ringit's hard to call them compelling unless players have collected the 27 items that mention them and chronicled their stories before deciding for themselves whether the character in question is truly evil.


However, the Flesh-Eating Devourer has none of these caveats. He appears directly to the player, tells them exactly how unholy his actions are to both the living and the dead, and does not want the world to experience a level of suffering so intense that it shifts the paradigm for what the default state is of existence. Dung Eater is a refreshingly unapologetic character – not even his name excuses him from his crimes.

6 Kellogg – Fallout 4

The first antagonistic players meet… Besides bombs, maybe

ISSUED
November 10, 2015

OpenCritic rating
Strong

The Fall out The series featured some of the most iconic villains in gaming history, each showcasing how nuclear apocalypse shaped and warped humanity through centuries of despair and madness.

Kellogg is not the central antagonist of Fallout 4but he is a central, determining factor for much of the story, setting the tone for the intrigue and mystery of Fallout 4his opening chapters. An apathetic mercenary with a surprising amount of depth who is inextricably linked to the protagonist as their first foil.


5 Gaunter O'Dimm – The Witcher 3

A fan-favorite maker of cursed pacts and deals

ISSUED
May 19, 2015

OpenCritic rating
Strong

The Glass Man is one of the most beloved villains in the world the sorcerer headlines – first appearing as a cunning trickster with a penchant for deals, but very quickly revealing himself to be something much more sinister.

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Gaunter's ability to shape reality, hold cursed Faustian Pacts and even freeze time will make him a powerful force to be reckoned with, but what makes him so compelling is his deceptively laid-back charm and absolutely stunning voice which acts behind him.

4 Dutch Van Der Lin – Red Dead Redemption 2

An opportunist, idealist and hypocrite


ISSUED
October 26, 2018

OpenCritic rating
Strong

Dutch Van Der Lin has one of the most interesting dynamics with Arthur of the entire Van Der Lin gang. He took Arthur under his wing and raised him, but as the Pinkertons continue to hunt down their gang, Dutch becomes increasingly paranoid of all his comrades.

Like many characters who like to hypothesize about philosophy while also being kind of terrible (there are a few on this list!), Dutch is functionally a hypocrite. He condemns civilization in favor of the open wildness and individualism his gang enjoys, but their literacy, intellect, and even the well-tailored clothes they wear all come from this society that they claim to hate so much.

3 Saburo Arasaka – Cyberpunk 2077

A man so strong that he wants to conquer death


ISSUED
December 10, 2020

OpenCritic rating
Strong

Night City has produced some truly evil people in its glittering world. There's a case to be made that Night City is itself CyberpunkHis most compelling villain, but the apathy and entropy of the average citizen—the city's indifference rather than its malice—is what gives rise to so many of the truly evil people V encounters.

Saburo is a compelling villain, but is he evil? That depends on V's perspective more than anything else, but Saburo's consuming desire to master death and live forever is a driving force behind the many, many obstacles that appear in the story. Saburo, who has reached a level of wealth and power so great that it eclipses any other person on earth, puts all his resources into a singular and terrifying technology that could rewrite the way humanity works.

2 Dagoth Ur – Morrowind

A despicable and likable God


Sistema

PC-1 Xbox-1

ISSUED
May 1, 2002

Developer(s)
Bethesda Game Studios

Frankly speaking, the Tribunal is a bigger villain than Dagoth Ur Morrow. Okay, yes, Dagoth Ur has unleashed a magical disease that turns people into encephalic zombies, and his cult is functionally a group of disgruntled fascists, but the Tribunal are three desolate, treacherous false gods—and they're the ones who catalyze it on Dagoth Ur as a strong and powerful. the compelling force of villainy.

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Even towards the end of the game, Dagoth occupies an interesting place in the story, seeing the protagonist as a friend rather than an enemy – he knows the Nerevarine in any form and simply his madness after years in the Mountain Red turned him into such a guy. an overwhelming antagonist to Tamriel.

1 Caesar – Fallout New Vegas

Disturbed and charismatic – The ultimate tyrant


ISSUED
October 19, 2010

The major fractions of Fallout: New Vegas each holds a different future for the iconic city and its surroundings. But in those magical hours of the game, the greatest fringe man in the Wasteland is Caesar's Legion – a brutal and masochistic wave of bandits and slavers, led by the mysterious, enigmatic and powerful Caesar.

what is he doing New Vegas such a wild ride that when players finally meet Caesar, he is the ultimate representation of any demagogue who relies on charisma and influence to win over a nation. He really is just a guy in a chair. Like all tyrants before him, his power comes from a place of myth and misunderstood philosophy, but he remains a unique and compelling villain within. Fall outthe rich tapestry of antagonists.

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